Gene Smith pushes back on idea of lacking fan support for Ohio State basketball

Gene Smith made the call on Wednesday to fire Ohio State men’s basketball coach Chris Holtmann with six games left in the regular season.

The decision was cited as being due to Smith believing that there needs to be a change in the program’s leadership. Still, record low attendance numbers toward the end of Holtmann’s tenure suggests fan interest has plummeted in recent seasons. The Buckeyes AD pushed back on these notions but admitted Ohio State should be able to put more butts in seats.

“We have to have expectations consistent with reality,” Smith said during a press conference after Holtmann’s firing. “There are going to be games throughout the year where you’re going to you’re going to have eight or 10 [thousand fans]. You guys seem to forget that conversation from like 10 years ago. The reality is that’s going to happen. It happened during the Thad Matta years. Go back and look at the numbers that were in the eight and 10,000 fans periodically throughout the season.

“However, to your point, there’s got to be six, seven or eight games, where we’re close to that sell out, or at the sell out. We haven’t had, that to your point. That’s really what you’re talking about. It hadn’t died on the vine. But at the end of the day, we need to get better and we need to win. And my advice to Ross [Bjork] is simple: Product, place, price. That’s marketing. And you gotta win.”

Holtmann’s contract previously ran through the 2027-28 season, and is subjected to a buyout of roughly $15.5 million by the university.

Going 137-84 as Ohio State head coach since he was hired in 2017, Holtmann had tasted success for a whole in Columbus. Other than the canceled 2020 NCAA Tournament, Holtmann led Ohio State to the NCAA Tournament during his first four full seasons leading the Buckeyes’ program. Holtmann also led Ohio State to 20 win seasons during his first five seasons, but could not pass that mark in either of the last two seasons.

While the Ohio State men’s basketball program moves forward without its head coach, they’re preparing for a massive home game on Sunday against No. 2 Purdue. The opening tip is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET and will air live on CBS.

Assistant coach Jake Diebler will serve as the Buckeyes’ interim head coach for the remainder of the 2023-24 college basketball season.